Sapphire

My feet drag along the floor, the soles of my shoes squeaking as I reach my locker. Lazily, I rub my eye as I put in my combination, swinging the door open to reveal all of my books for the day. Yawning with a hand over my mouth, I pull out my math book. It's barely the second hour of school, yet I already feel dead.

I was up all night trying to figure out why people cheat. An answer that never came. If you really love someone, you wouldn't even think about doing anything with another person. And if you're not in love, why not just break up? It doesn't make sense to me.

As I close the locker door again, Julissa's face appears right in front of me and I jump back in shock, my book falling from my grip. If I needed a rude awakening, I got it.

I bend down to pick it up and hug it against my chest. Her eyes follow my every move, a deep sneer taking over her usually pretty features. If she would just smile more, she'd be drop dead gorgeous.

"Where's Ian?" She suddenly asks, her hands resting on her hips.

I crease my eyebrows. Why do you care? "How should I know?" I ask instead. Snapping at her is like jumping into a raging fire with no exit.

She rolls her blue eyes at me, a manicured hand reaching over to grab my book. She slams it on the ground, the loud noise successfully catching the attention from everyone around us. I glance around, feeling intimidated by all the curious stares. When I reach down to grab my book, though, she steps on it to prevent me from picking it up.

"Please, I just want to get to class." I mumble, "I don't know what you want from me, but I didn't do anything for you to treat me like this."

"Where's Ian?" She asks again, completely ignoring my plea.

"I don't know. He wasn't home when I left, okay? Now let me grab my book."

"What's going on between you two?" She glares through her thick false lashes. "And don't act innocent."

"I don't need to act innocent, because there's really nothing going on between us." I sigh exasperatingly. If she wasn't such a hypocrite, I probably wouldn't judge how much of a bitch she is. "He's just renting a room to me, for Christ's sake!"

Suddenly, she takes a hold of my wrists and I struggle to get away. "Why don't you tell me the truth, huh? Why didn't he come to school today?"

"Can we at least take this somewhere more private? No one needs to listen in on our personal conversation." For your sake, at least. Because I have nothing to hide.

She scoffs bitterly, shoving me into the lockers. I wince. "Whatever you have to say, say it in front of everyone. In fact," she takes a moment to raise her voice. "Everyone listen to what Sapphire has to say!" She announces and even more people stop to zone in on our interaction.

I look into her glaring eyes. Adrenaline pumps through my veins as I muster up the courage to expose her. I know I'm gonna regret it and feel guilty, even though I'm not the one who betrayed the trust of the person I claimed to love.

Heaving a sigh, I push her away from me and bend down quickly to pick up my book. As I hug it securely against my chest – feeling a sense of security with it – I finally find it within me to say the words that will probably ruin her entire reputation.

"He saw you and Ivan kissing behind the bleachers yesterday." I watch as sheer shock takes over her features. Everyone around us chatter silently within themselves, their accusing gaze focused on Julissa. "Don't you feel any guilt at all?" I continue, saving Ian from having to confront her about it. "He loved you and treated you so amazingly. Any girl would kill to be in your place. And I guess now they might actually have a chance."

With the sound of that, some girls squeal in excitement.

Julissa laughs bitterly, "As if he'd lay eyes on any of you." 

"Shut up, cheater!" A guy accuses from the crowd, which makes her gasp.

"Yeah, shut the fuck up, bitch!"

Woah, there.

Ivan walks through the crowd of people, lifting a confused brow when everyone lowers their voice to a mere whisper. His eyes meet Julissa. She shakes her head, silently letting him know that they've been caught.

With that, he puffs his chest and glowers at everyone. "So someone ratted us out, huh?" Everyone makes way as he passes by. "It's none of your fucking business what Julissa and I do! So what if we fuck behind Ian's back?"

Julissa winces from beside me and I stare shell-shocked at him. He's exposing more than what people already know, without even realizing it. She motions for him to shut up, but he doesn't catch on.

"Not like you guys haven't cheated on a test before!"

He did not just compare a relationship to a fucking test. The nerve of this guy.

"Ivan, shut the fuck up already!" Julissa finally snaps. He presses his lips into a tight line. "Just shut up." With one final glance at me, she hurries off through the crowd, Ivan chasing after her.

I run a hand through my unruly hair, letting out a strangled sigh. I hate confrontations.

* * * *

"Did you hear?" Amber gushes, excitement basically pouring out of her as she stuffs grape after grape into her mouth. "They actually got exposed!"

I whine, throwing myself back on the grass. It pokes my bare arms and I instantly feel itchy, but I ignore it as I slap a hand on my face. Please don't remind me.

"Apparently Ian caught them in the act! He walked in on them doing it. In his room, of all places!" She suddenly turns to me. "Did you see that, by any chance?"

Boy, trust the school to take a fact and turn it into a flat out lie.

"That's not at all what happened," I say on an exhale, pushing myself back into a sitting position. "Ian just saw them kiss behind the bleachers. I would know because I was there."

Her eyes widen and she smacks my arm. I wince. What's with everyone hurting me today? "And you didn't tell me this, why?"

"Maybe because I was condoling him? Jeez, Amber, I love you but I can't always tell you everything as soon as it happens."

Gloria finally looks up from her book to look at us. "Did I miss something?"

Amber and I both turn to glance at each other. Gloria always gets so enthralled in her books that she completely shuts us out.

I snatch the book from her hand, using my finger as a bookmark while I read the last page. Her eyes narrow when I hand it back to her.

I smile coyly. "Nope, continue reading."

Reluctantly, she does as told and disappears into her world of fiction once again.

"Is Ian okay?" Amber brings back the conversation, and I tug at the dying grass. "I can't imagine what he's going through right now. Did you see him before you came to school?"

I shake my head, "He left really early, way before I got up for school."

A frown takes form on her lips, and her hand distractedly reaches for her water bottle, before she puts it up to her lips to take a swig.

"Did you hear that Julissa actually cried after I exposed her?" I mindlessly mutter, fiddling with a piece of grass.

Her eyes widen and once again, she smacks my arm. "Wait, you were the one who exposed her?!"

I don't answer. Instead, I take a chance to soothe my aching arm. "Stop hitting me, Amber. You know I'm sensitive."

"Sorry," her apology is rushed. "I just can't believe I wasn't there to witness it. Ugh, I don't know if I should be mad or impressed. I mean, come on, you freaking hate confrontations!"

I grumble, "I know, but she didn't give me much of a choice."

"If I respected you before, now I freaking crown you as a mother-freakin queen, biotch!"

"Thanks, I guess?"

"Did you call me?" Gloria questions from her spot on the grass and I steal a wet grape from Amber, throwing it smack dap on her forehead. "Hey!"

"Either pay attention to us, or shut up!"

"Rude," she rubs the droplets of water from her forehead. "You just helped me come to the realization that I need new friends."

Amber rolls her eyes and goes to sit down beside her. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, she motions to the entire school of students. "Are they what you look for? Seriously, you already have two of the most loyal friends. What more can you ask for? Everyone knows it's quality over quantity."

Gloria sticks out her tongue childishly, "Your quality is that of an expired potato."

"The hell kind of metaphor is that?"

I laugh, "You two are such dorks. I love it."